US ambassador says Israel 'has responsibility' to ensure safety of West Bank Palestinians

US ambassador notes Israel 'has responsibility' to ensure safety of West Bank Palestinians.

Key points

• Settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition administration, the most right-wing in Israel's history, took office in late 2022.
• Huckabee visited Taybeh, one of the only Christian villages remaining in the West Bank, in June 2025 after a church there was vandalised.
• A number of settlements have been established around Turmus Ayya, the Palestinian town near Ramallah that Huckabee was visiting on Saturday.
• Huckabee refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term applied by the Israeli administration but not adopted by the US administration.
• Netanyahu's administration has additionally overseen an expansion of settlements throughout the West Bank, further entrenching Israeli control over territory that Palestinians seek for a future state.

US ambassador notes Israel 'has responsibility' to ensure safety of West Bank Palestinians. AFPReuters Published September 5, 2026 Updated September 5, 2026 03: 51pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

For context, the US ambassador to Israel remarked on Saturday that the Israeli administration has a responsibility to ensure the safety of Palestinians in the West Bank after a sharp rise in settler attacks.

"One of the messages that we have been sending and we will continue to send is that people in these communities have a right to live with a level of security and safety, and that the government has a responsibility to make sure that that happens, " Ambassador Mike Huckabee remarked to journalists as he met Palestinian-Americans in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

After Israeli ministers laid out ideas on how to expel the war-battered territory's two million individuals, he additionally stated there was no plan underway to force Palestinians out of Gaza.

"I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people out of Gaza against their will, " Huckabee remarked.

Notably, the US ambassador met with Palestinians, including the families of US citizens killed by Israeli settlers, in a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank that has been the target of repeated settler attacks.

Notably, a number of settlements have been established around Turmus Ayya, the Palestinian town near Ramallah that Huckabee was visiting on Saturday. Its residents say that harassment by militant Israeli settlers is common and that they are unable to stop them from entering the town and damaging their homes.

"We have many issues that we will address, " Nawwaf Zaghoul, the town's mayor, remarked to journalists ahead of the gathering, describing what he noted were constant attacks by settlers.

He remarked that the town's residents would be asking the ambassador to assist secure their safety and security. Regarding 80 per cent of the town's roughly 3, 000 residents were Palestinian Americans, he stated.

Huckabee, a Baptist minister and longtime supporter of Israeli settlements, has pressed violent settlers to be prosecuted, while saying he believes their actions represent a minority of the wider settler community. It numbers around 750, 000.

Israeli settlers accused of carrying out attacks in the West Bank targeting Palestinians are rarely prosecuted.

"We are hoping that will do something for us regarding these lawless settlers, " Turmus Ayya resident Sameer Hazama remarked ahead of the gathering with the ambassador.

Huckabee visited Taybeh, one of the only Christian villages remaining in the West Bank, in June 2025 after a church there was vandalised. Huckabee remarked at the time that the desecration of a place of worship was an act of terror and a crime.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, with the United Nations and most countries deeming the territory to be occupied. Israel's administration claims that the land is disputed, not occupied.

Huckabee refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term applied by the Israeli administration but not adopted by the US administration. He has visited Shiloh, a settlement near Turmus Ayya, at least twice since 2025.

After he suggested that he would not be resisted to Tel Aviv taking over substantial swathes of the Middle East, in February, Huckabee drew widespread condemnation from at least 14 countries, including Pakistan.

In short, US ambassador says Israel ' has responsibility' to ensure safety of West Bank is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.